“A jeweller will prefer the smallest fragment of diamond to several sapphires; and so, in the order established by God, our intimacy with Him gives Him more glory than all possible good, procured by us, for a great number of souls, but to the detriment of our own progress.
“Our Heavenly Father, “who devotes Himself more to the direction of a soul in which He reigns, than to the natural government of the whole universe and to the civil government of all empires,” looks for this harmony in our zeal.”
― Jean-Baptiste Chautard
At Pax Orbis, we believe that personal holiness is the key to changing our culture. We believe that the pursuit of sanctity by a large number of people will merit a change in society from one that regards human life as disposable to one which values human life from the moment of conception.
This means that for pro-life work to be meaningful and effective, it must begin with the souls of the individuals involved. Second must comes the souls of those who do not agree with us. Finally, we must work to save babies and their parents from the scourge of abortion and its related evils: IVF, euthanasia and contraception.
While many Christian pro-life activists acknowledge that the fight against abortion is a spiritual battle, it is discouraging to see an over-representation within the movement of purely human activities and messages.
This is coupled with the understandable, but misguided priority of saving babies, rather than saving souls. Unfortunately, this applies to the souls of many activists themselves.
To counter these troubling trends, Pax Orbis encourages the spiritual aspect of pro-life work by promoting the sanctity of individual pro-life Catholics.
Pax Orbis Academy
The Pax Orbis Academy is our ‘school for holiness’ and was launched on March 25, 2025 – the feast of the Annunciation. It is primarily aimed at promoting holiness for pro-life Catholics, with the secondary purpose of educating them about abortion.
The motto of the Academy is pro vita, pro sanctitudine – which means ‘for life, for holiness’.
There is no fee, and individuals can become students of the Academy by by simply subscribing to our newsletter.
In addition to our articles, subscribers receive advice from the saints and Church Fathers on how best to nurture virtue in their everyday life, especially if they involved in some form of pro-life activism.
The three pillars of the Academy are:
- Masses of Reparation
- daily prayer (with a focus on mental prayer)
- daily acts of penance for an end to abortion.
Masses of Reparation
Attending a Mass of reparation for the sin of abortion is not a new idea, and has been promoted by groups such as the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants for decades.
However, what makes our group different is that we encourage our members to request a Mass every month and to offer their priest a stipend. It isn’t necessary for Academy students to attend that particular Mass, and indeed, priests don’t usually tell their parishioners at which Mass their intentions will be offered.
(The idea behind Catholics asking their parish priests to offer Masses of reparation came from a dedicated pro-life activist named Adrian Devlin. You can read the article Adrian wrote about his initiative here.)
Daily Prayer
There aren’t many faithful Catholics who fail to pray their daily Rosary, and many of those Rosaries include as an intention the end of abortion. This is well and good and must always be supported!
Students of the Academy are encouraged to add mental prayer, also known as Catholic Meditation, to their daily prayers. A collection of Meditations on the moral virtues provide a starting point for mental prayer. Students should endeavour to apply each virtue to the pro-life work with which they are involved.
Each person’s prayer life and pro-life efforts vary according to their state in life and individuals should prayerfully discern exactly what God wants of them in this regard. Not every Catholic is called to external, public acts such as attending prayer vigils or rallies or taking an active role in a pro-life organisation. An ‘activist’ may be someone housebound who offers their suffering for an end to abortion or a mother of young children who can’t be present at public prayer vigils.
Daily Acts of Penance
As with our prayer lives, each person’s circumstances dictate the kinds of penance he or she can perform. Students of the Academy are encouraged to select one simple thing that can be performed every day, whether that be some form of fasting, getting up earlier, abstaining from online devices for a set time each day, or another other act of their choice.
The goal is to be realistic and consistent and to offer the act for an end to abortion on a daily basis.
More information about the philosophy behind the Academy can be found in this talk from 2024 on ‘Pro-life Witness and Spiritual Warfare’.